At twenty-five, Hiroki still looked youthful.
Hamura, approaching thirty, had begun growing a beard and exuded calmness and maturity.
Right now, however, he felt oddly uncomfortable.
Father was extraordinary, so why did he keep treating him like an ordinary person?
Matters like getting married and having children...
Ashura needed heirs to carry on his legacy.
But as for himself—what exactly was there to pass down? There really wasn't any point in going through all that hassle.
Kaguya watched the commotion below while Hiroki interrupted Hamura's thoughts with another question.
"Hamura, are you still in contact with Gamamaru?"
Instinctively nodding at the question, Hamura replied, "Yes."
"Then you should have learned about this world from him. Before Kaguya arrived, had anyone appeared in this world on your level?" Hiroki continued.
Hamura hesitated briefly before reluctantly uttering a name. "...The previous Shinigami?"
"Anyone else besides him?"
"...No one." He shook his head, then fell into silence.
The Shinigami was a god who never concerned himself with humans.
Gamamaru and others had their own cultivation techniques but never shared them with the outside world.
Humanity remained stuck in the age of cold weapons.
Neither he nor Hayato had anything to do with the original humans.
Indra's and Ashura's powers were remarkably similar to Hayato's own.
And their mother had been only an ordinary woman.
A sudden realization flashed across Hamura's mind, causing his expression to subtly change—as if he understood something in that instant.
Hiroki approached and patted Hamura's shoulder.
"Therefore, you've figured it out, right, Hamura? The way to rapidly increase their potential is actually by passing down your power."
"Marrying other humans and transferring the power within your bloodline—this is the future."
"The more descendants you have, the greater the possibilities for the future will be."
Relying only on these natives—who've just started to touch chakra—to boost their potential would take centuries of countless genetic mutations before they could even match the strength of the Five Kages.
Rather than being a story of great ninja villages competing for supremacy, the entire Ninja World was more accurately described as a training ground for Kaguya's descendants.
All the battles were merely internal conflicts among people of the same lineage.
Upon hearing this, Hamura couldn't help but bitterly smile, feeling increasingly uneasy deep inside.
Was he supposed to become a tool—a *breeder*?
As he lost himself in wild thoughts, outside the village below, Indra was venting his rage at Hayato.
His fury burning beneath the surface, Indra's face twisted in icy rage.
"Why? Why didn't you choose me as the heir to the Ninja Arts?"
What had he lacked compared to that fool Ashura?
Even grandfather and grandmother acknowledged him, yet Father still chose that childish innocent instead.
He couldn't stand it!
Hayato glanced down, his face unreadable. "Listen well, Indra. I have already decided that leadership of the Ninja Arts must be based on love rather than power..."
Indra clenched his fists tightly, interrupting sharply.
"You say love? Love is completely unnecessary!"
"Will you still show compassion to your enemies when facing them?"
"During that journey, just like Ashura, I wanted to share the villagers' burdens. But in the end, they only wanted to slack off and rely on my strength."
"Weak people worship me as their king; all they want is power."
"Ashura is still immature because he lacks strength, thus he has no choice but to seek help from others."
"But I'm different. I don't need help from those who are weaker than me—they only need to follow silently."
"If you keep going down this path, you'll become no different from Mother. The more outstanding one becomes, the less humanity should be lost." Hayato closed his eyes, unwilling to see him in this state.
Then he suddenly opened them again, his face solemn:
"For those who cannot walk forward with you, lacking bonds means being dominated by fear. People won't willingly submit to tyranny."
"Then I can only subdue them by force." Indra's gaze was extremely cold.
Ashura frowned and stared at him carefully. "Please don't do it, Brother!"
What had twisted Indra's heart so completely that the kindness once seen in him could never be found again?
"Hahaha..." Indra ignored him and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Father, you inherited something from Grandmother Kaguya. Why won't you admit it?"
"Do your Ninja Arts disciples gather around you out of love? No—they only seek power too."
"Can love settle everything? Love isn't worth mentioning compared to power."
"Father, your utopia is actually built solely upon your immense strength."
"Just wait, Father. You will see. I am the most suitable one. Ashura is simply incapable!"
Chakra surged into his eyes, the three tomoe spinning violently. Indra blinked once, then his eye pattern instantly changed into a six-pointed star shape.
[Mangekyo Sharingan!]
"This alone should be enough, shouldn't it, Ashura? Without this power, you'll never truly understand." A smirk tugged at the corner of Indra's lips.
"Your eyes..." Ashura looked serious.
Standing aside, Hayato slightly furrowed his eyebrows. "What caused his Sharingan to awaken further?"
Feeling the rapidly growing Chakra from him without signs of stopping, Ashura stepped forward and shouted seriously, begging: "Please stop! I don't want to fight you!"
Indra smiled mockingly. "Oh? Fight me? Daring to talk to me like this—looks like you've improved quite a bit, Ashura."
"You think yourself my match? Naive!"
As he spoke, a 'zapping' sound arose. Blue lightning surrounded Indra's entire body.
Without even making a hand seal, a Lightning Ball appeared suddenly and shot straight toward where Ashura stood.
The Lightning Ball crackled with deadly energy.
Ashura remained calm and formed seals with both hands.
In an instant,
One tornado after another erupted, encircling him.
Boom!
Wind and lightning collided, vanishing simultaneously.
Everything around them fell silent.
Indra was somewhat surprised that Ashura had managed to fight back.
Did he receive special training from Father and Uncle during my absence?
He snorted coldly in his mind.
At that moment, one blue Rasengan after another appeared in Ashura's hands, all of them spinning inside a massive outer Rasengan.
"What?" Indra felt even more astonished.
"Brother, take a look at my cultivation progress too."
He launched a layered Rasengan barrage toward Indra.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A powerful explosion echoed in all directions.
Smoke and dust engulfed everything, completely obscuring Indra's figure.
Ashura and Hayato stood calmly at the forefront.
The village folk were forced to endure the shockwave from Ashura's attack. They stared at the two with a mix of shock and admiration.
"T-That's... incredible..."
Gradually, the smoke began to clear. From within the darkness, a huge shadowy figure became increasingly distinct.
Purple chakra covered Indra's entire body, solidifying into a skeletal frame of a giant purple warrior.
"Marginally better than I thought, Ashura," came Indra's voice—laced with both mockery and approval.
"But with just this much? You're still far from it."
Before he even finished speaking, the previously vague outline of chakra fully solidified. With an intense tremor, the purple giant completely took form.
At first glance, it towered at least two hundred meters high.
The ground itself began to cave beneath its feet.
Disciples of the Ninja Arts looked up in disbelief, cold sweat trickling down their brows.
[Susano'o]
Standing at the center of Susano's forehead, Indra gave a confident smile. He controlled the body of Susano, stepping directly toward Ashura and Hayato.
"There it is—the gap between you and me."
At the critical moment, Ashura kept retreating while Hayato easily dodged aside.
Another loud thunderous explosion erupted as Susano's foot came crashing down where they had stood moments ago. The ground collapsed instantly, with rocks flying everywhere.
Just as Ashura steadied himself, he launched another Multi-Rasengan toward Susano without hesitation.
Unfortunately, Susano simply drew his long sword and swept it effortlessly, deflecting Ashura's attack.
The Rasengan whistled through the air and flew off in another direction.
"How could this be!"
Before Ashura could recover from his shock, Susano's fist already came crashing down toward the ground.
Even without being the direct target, the shockwave sent Ashura flying backward, landing heavily on the ground with a thud.
With heavy steps, Susano approached slowly, towering over Ashura on the ground, and overlooking Hayato and the villagers in the distance.
Ashura looked up, meeting only an icy void in Indra's gaze. Meanwhile, Susano raised his sword again into a ready stance.
"Is my brother really going to kill everyone?"
Hayato turned to the villagers gathered around him.
"Everyone, stand with Ashura now!"
"Master Hayato, what should we do?"
"Focus your Chakra into one point and call out to Ashura in your heart, then you'll be able to transfer your strength to him."
The villagers nodded seriously. At the same time, they lifted their hands and released Chakra toward the same direction.
"Why doesn't he just step in directly?" Kaguya suddenly spoke from the air not far away. "Without Hayato's help, those people wouldn't have any chance of transferring Chakra to Ashura, right?"
Hayato remained silent.
"Just to keep those people united, Hayato really went through great lengths." Kaguya sneered.
Down below, on the battlefield.
Indra gave a contemptuous smile. "A bunch of powerless people gathering together is completely meaningless."
He controlled Susano and swung his sword.
The blade danced, radiating blinding light, unleashing an overwhelmingly unmatched force.
Indra also closed his eyes, a look of pleasure on his face, as if already savoring the sound of destruction.
However, all that followed was a faint tremor — then silence.
"Hmm?"
He opened his eyes in surprise.
The long sword in Susano's grip was actually blocked, unable to move forward even an inch.
Under the blade, Ashura held two Black Receivers, several Truth-Seeking Balls circling around his body, firmly resisting the attack.
"Six Paths' power? Has it already been passed down to you? Damn it."
Seeing the situation clearly, Indra's expression turned grim. He condensed another sword and slashed at Ashura.
Ashura barely managed to block it.
At this moment, Hayato continued directing others to channel Chakra toward Ashura.
Pat!
Suddenly, Ashura felt someone pat his shoulder. When he turned to look, however, there was no one there.
The Chakra inside his body suddenly became extremely abundant, overflowing continuously outward.
"What is that? Could it also be Susano'o?"
Indra was astonished to discover four blue Chakra arms suddenly emerging from Ashura's body, lifting up Susano's dual blades.
Immediately after, Ashura sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and joined his palms together.
Then came another round of earth-shaking tremors.
Ashura's body kept rising higher and higher.
Countless arms sprouted from the ground.
A powerful shockwave rippled outward, kicking up clouds of dust that quickly engulfed the battlefield, obscuring everything from sight.
When the shaking ended and the smoke cleared somewhat, Indra finally got to see what Ashura had created.
The ground was now filled with ruins and debris.
Ashura sat atop a giant Thousand-Armed Guanyin (a Buddhist deity) statue with countless arms.
This statue of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin (Guanyin Bodhisattva), entirely made of wood, towered over the battlefield, its height at least three times greater than his Susano.
"How can this be possible?"
Indra couldn't accept this.
Merely a few months apart, how could Ashura become so strong!
"Ashura!"
Shouting loudly, Ashura controlled the thousand-armed Guanyin statue to stand up and march forward.
"Ashura!"
Clenching his teeth, Indra roared back just as fiercely and sent his Susano flying toward him.
The two titans collided!
[Summit Enlightened Thousand-Armed Cannon]
Under Ashura's control, countless colossal arms of the Guanyin manifested like afterimages, rapidly pounding into Susano'o.
The hovering Susano was literally hammered into the ground.
Its body actually shattered from the impact!
As the purple giant vanished, the villagers let out a collective sigh of relief. "Did we… win?"
On the ground, Indra slowly pushed himself up, coughing uncontrollably.
"Cough… Cough…"
Ashura rushed over and held out his hand. "Hey brother, are you okay?"
With a sharp *SLAP*, Indra slapped his hand away.
Ashura stood silently in place, his expression darkening. "Brother, I never meant to take your place."
"Phew…" Indra spat out a mouthful of black blood toward one side. He stared at Ashura with clear displeasure on his face and coldly snorted,
"Ashura, I admit your strength surprised me. But do you really think only you received favor?"
He muttered under his breath, "I thought Susano'o would be enough to finish this. You made me look bad… way too bad…"
"Huh?" Confused, Ashura furrowed his brow, trying to understand what Indra was saying. He studied his older brother's face for answers—but his gaze drifted down to his eyes instead.
In an instant, Indra's eyes had become identical to Hayato's—rings upon rings forming the unmistakable Rinnegan!
Indra slammed both palms onto the ground.
[Summoning Jutsu...]
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